Awesome Possum 2019 Year End Post ⭐️

Awesome Possum posts consist of random internet finds. Any blog posts, articles, videos, podcasts, anything under the sun will be included here. To be clear, this won’t only include games or manga. It will be anything and everything. Some posts may not be necessarily posted this week, but I’ve only discovered them this week.

Yeah, yeah, we know that already.

Anyway, hello folks! I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. Yet. Despite the lack of updates, I’m still floundering around, trying to survive whatever life throws at me. So I guess, before we start with the updates regarding all the news I’ve missed, let me update you first on some things.

Personal

We’ll start with this one.

2019 is probably the most challenging year in my entire 20s, almost a full decade since that tumultuous 2011. My dad got really sick this year, and for the first half of 2019, it’s just us going to the doctors and doing laboratories day in and day out. I’m living with my dad, and since my mom and sister are both living abroad, I’m the sole caregiver. I have donned different hats such as being the pharmacist, nurse, accountant, cook, counselor, cleaner, secretary, all in one. Being the youngest, I’m used to being a follower in the family and just doing things at my own pace. But this year, I’m forced to be the impromptu head and breadwinner. To be honest, it is quite scary and exhausting. But life has to move on.

Cover by TapRead

There are some improvements with my dad’s health mid-year, so I’m able to do this lifelong project of mine. If you haven’t, please do check out my web novels, The School Idol’s Roommate and Try and Catch Me. I have finished TSIR, thankfully. Meanwhile, TCM is still on-going, plus there is another one on the way. But…

Life decides to throw a curveball in my direction, just for the heck of it.

The drugs my dad is taking showed signs of toxicity, affecting his eyesight. Because of that, I decided to accompany him every time he goes out and even when he is going to our family store. Luckily (or not), I don’t have a full-time job this year so I can attend to him any time.

But that also means I don’t have time for myself. If I’m not at the store, I’m busy doing the household chores or maybe picking up stocks for the store. I can’t write and I also can’t read/play anything at all. It is tough juggling, but it’s not like I have a choice. More like, the other choice is abandoning my dad, which isn’t something I’d like to do (or to any of my family members for that matter).

Blogging

2019 marks my 10th year of blogging, a decade of rambling and dabbling through different fandoms. The past decade introduced me to different areas such as otome gaming. Bishie Holic has undergone quite a lot too, not just with the change in focus from anime to manga and gaming, but with its home. When the blog came back to WordPress.com, I thought I’ve tried and seen it all. And that’s where I’m wrong because I’m in for a surprise this year. To my surprise, people have started reaching out to promote their games. I know it’s not much, and I know that younger blogs achieve this much earlier than BH did, but nonetheless, I’m happy. I never thought they would find my blog anyway. The experience is humbling, though. And generally, I’m just thankful to anyone who stumbles onto this site. Thank you!

However, I originally intended to have at least 4 posts a month. But with the sudden changes, I can barely come up with a single post. 😓

But! I’m not losing hope! I still want to have at least 1 post a month. I’m not sure if I mentioned this somewhere, but I have a thing with scheduled posts lol. Instead of posting right away, I tend to schedule my updates which means I’ll probably choose Sunday as my posting date. Meanwhile, Awesome Possum will remain as a Sunday column.

Next year is going to be my 11th year! Bishie Holic and I are both oldies lol. Never expected to continue doing this up to this day.

Fandom/Interests

My web novel, webtoon, and manga reading slow down quite a bit too, especially in the last 6 months, to give way to reading more books! I haven’t been reading a lot in the past years. This year, I managed to read more than 50 books! Yaaaas. I know, some people read 200, but for someone who reads only 10 a year, 50 is such a big leap. 😁 I’ve been more active on Goodreads than the rest of my social media accts.

Speaking of social media, I’ve realized that I’m not much of a fan of them. Took me long enough to figure that out. 😂 Scrolling through my feeds, not only increased that feeling of FOMO, but it makes me anxious. It feels like shouting through the crowd of strangers, which gives me way too much anxiety in real life. Those sites also suck my mental energy and time. It isn’t helpful to me who can barely manage to squeeze in everything within 24-hours. On a positive note, choosing what I do and see on social media helps me filter out unnecessary fandom wars and drama. I have too much drama already, thank you very much.

From L-R: Tchikai, Rayla, Yun, Izuki, Fuu, Nachi, Mict

To be honest, though, my otome gaming mood this year is pretty much non-existent. I have been playing Binary Star on and off, and while it is interesting, I just can’t summon the energy needed to fully appreciate it. I’m still stuck on my 2nd route (Rayla).

While I didn’t play a lot of commercial VNs this year, I did play (and got addicted hehe) to mobile games. Let’s see, there’s Utapri, Battle Cats, Township, Eden of Ikemen, and Merge Dragons. There are some really short ones (short as in, I only played them for an hour or two), like the SM rhythm game, Deemo, Cytus II, and also some puzzle games which titles I forgot.

There’s also quite a bit of indie games for me this year. Hashihime will be the top game. I love it with every fiber of my being. I’m currently finishing my post for One Night Stand. Currently, I’m playing Dark Nights and Paws Effect. Please do check them out and support the developers!

I put my Japanese learning on-hold after reaching, what I think is, the somewhat intermediate level. This then gives me some time for Korean variety shows and managed to squeeze in time for Kdrama, the interesting and lovely Hotel del Luna.

For 2020, I’d like to continue working through my backlog. I’ve accumulated quite a bit of manga and games lying around the house, not to mention the digital titles I have. So for next year, I’ll prioritize the titles I have than getting newer ones.

…except for Tokyo Mirage

…and Animal Crossing lol

I think that’s about it? Let’s hop to the news and blog posts from around the internet!😋

Awesome Reads

Anime

I didn’t realize that this is a review. 😅 I thought this is a feature article lol. What’s even weirder for me is that it’s been 10years since I discovered BL, and I still haven’t watched Gravitation despite it being the first BL of my friends. It kinda fell off my radar once I’ve read more and more titles.

Others

I can relate lol. The one good thing I noticed is that small talk in the elevator is not necessary for my country. No one talks in the elevator unless you’re with a friend. No one talks about the weather either.

Yes, can we please? Stop seeing anyone in the same extroverted lenses.

I was reading about introversion, and a classmate saw the book. He was surprised to know about introverts and ask if introversion isn’t some kind of disease. I was quite offended but realized that it’s because he grew up with the same view as everybody, that everyone has to be loud and outgoing. That being reserved automatically means that you are withdrawn.

I'm Eu. Bishie Holic is a recommendation blog where I write bite-sized posts about manga/webtoons, novels/webnovels, and VN games. While I read any genre, most of these series fall under BL/Danmei titles and otome games.

I hope you'll have fun reading! :)

P.S. Sometimes I also write original fictions and fanfictions. Please do check out Hikki's Den.

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